Inheritance is the practice of passing on
property, titles,
debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has
long played an extremely important role in human societies.

Anthropology, sociology and law

Both anthropology and sociology have made detailed
studies in this area. Many cultures feature patrilineal succession, also
known as gavelkind,
where only male children can inherit. Some cultures also employ
matrilineal
succession only passing property along the female line. Other
practices include primogeniture, under which
all property goes to the eldest child, or often the eldest son, or
ultimogeniture,
in which everything is left to the youngest child. Some ancient
societies and most modern states employ partible
inheritance, under which every child inherits (usually
equally). Historically, there were also mixed systems:

In eastern Swedish culture, from the 13th century until the
19th century, sons inherited twice as much as daughters. This rule
was introduced by the Regent Birger Jarl,
and it was regarded as an improvement in its era, since daughters
were previously usually left without.

Among ancient Israelites, the
eldest son received twice as much as the other sons.

Among Galician
people it was typical that all children (both men and women) had a
part of the inheritance, but one son (the one who inherited the
house) inherited one-third of all the inheritance. This son was
called the mellorado. In some villages the mellorado even received
two-thirds of all the inheritance. This two-thirds would be all the
family's lands, while other children received their part in money.

According to
Islamic inheritance jurisprudence, sons inherit twice as much
as daughters when no will is left.
The complete laws governing inheritance in Islam are complicated
and take into account many kinship relations (so wills are usually
recommended), but in principle males inherit twice as females.
There is one interesting exception: The Indonesian
Minangkabau
people from West part of Sumatra island
despite being strong Muslims employ only complete matrilineal succession with
property and land passing down from mother to daughter. They find
no contradiction between their culture and faith.

Employing differing forms of succession can
affect many areas of society. Gender roles are profoundly affected
by inheritance laws and traditions. Primogeniture
has the effect of keeping large estates united and thus
perpetuating an elite. With partible inheritance large estates are
slowly divided among many descendants and great wealth is thus
diluted, leaving higher opportunities to individuals to make a
success. (If great wealth is not diluted, the positions in society
tend to be much more fixed and opportunities to make an individual
success are lower.)

Inheritance can be organized in a way that its
use is restricted by the desires of someone (usually of the
decedent).
An inheritance may have been organized as a fideicommissum,
which usually cannot be sold or diminished, only its profits are
disposable. A fideicommissum's succession can also be ordered in a
way that determines it long (or eternally) also with regard to
persons born long after the original descendant. Royal
succession has typically been more or less a fideicommissum,
the realm not (easily) to be sold and the rules of succession not
to be (easily) altered by a holder (a monarch).

In more archaic days, the possession of
inherited land has
been much more like a family trust than a
property of an individual. Even in recent years, the sale of the
whole of or a significant portion of a farm in many European
countries required consent from certain heirs, and/or heirs had the
intervening right to obtain the land in question with same sales
conditions as in the sales agreement in question.

In common law
jurisdictions an heir is a person who is entitled to receive a
share of the decedent's property via the rules of inheritance in
the jurisdiction
where the decedent died or owned property at the time of his death.
Strictly speaking, one becomes an heir only upon the death of the
decedent. It is improper to speak of the "heir" of a living person,
since the exact identity of the persons entitled to inherit are not
determined until the time of death. In a case where an individual
has such a position that only her/his own death before that of the
decedent would prevent the individual from becoming an heir, the
individual is called an heir
apparent. There is a further concept of jointly inheriting,
pending renunciation by all but one, which is called coparceny.

In modern legal use, the terms inheritance and
heir refer only to succession of property from a decedent who has
died intestate (that
is, without a will). It is a common mistake to refer to the
recipients of property through a will as heirs when they are
properly called devisees or legatees.